In 1987 the United Nations defined sustainability as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Since then, an accelerating global demand for natural resources has exceeded the earth's ability to replenish itself.

More than 300 Mount Mercy University students, staff and faculty are teaming up with local organizations to help with service projects around Cedar Rapids during Mustangs in Action Day, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 9 a.m.–Noon.

Mount Mercy University’s Community of Scholars Day will take place Friday, April 6, 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m. in Busse Board Room, Busse Library.
Sponsored by the Faculty Development Committee, the second annual event is an opportunity for Mount Mercy faculty to showcase their research. Topics include: To Wine or Not to Wine, Sustainability in Higher Education, French Republicanism vs. the Hijab, The State of Diversity in the Association for Applied Sport Psychology and many more.

Mount Mercy University students, faculty and staff spent Spring Break 2018 in Texas responding to the still-heavy need for volunteers after Hurricane Harvey hit in August 2017.
Twenty-six Mount Mercy community members made the trip and spent March 18–24 in the Beaumont and Port Arthur areas dismantling houses and cleaning up neighborhoods.

Mount Mercy University alumna Courtney Snodgrass and Professor of English Mary Vermillion have teamed up to do what they do best—produce meaningful work for others to enjoy. The product—Mercy Creative Review—is the university’s first-ever alumni- and employee-sourced literary and art magazine.

Dr. Gerry Kreitzer, director of music activities at Mount Mercy University, was awarded the 2016 National Federation Outstanding Music Educator State Award by the Iowa High School Music Association. Kreitzer was recognized at the 2017 All-State Music Festival on Saturday, Nov. 18.

Mount Mercy University English professors Carol Tyx and Mary Vermillion were amongst a small group who contributed to the book honored with the 2017 Teaching Literature Book Award, an international prize for the best book on teaching literature at the college level.
Their essay, titled “Literature Goes to Prison: A Reciprocal Service-Learning Project,” was one of 17 published in Service Learning and Literary Studies in English.

Mount Mercy University invites the community to be a part of its 2017 Fall Faculty Series, Divided We Fall: Finding Common Ground in a Fractured Age, a three-month series that explores how today's biggest issues can be resolved through courage and compassion.

After 26 years as a member of the religious studies faculty at Mount Mercy University, Dr. Charlotte Martin was granted professor emeritus status at the 2017 Commencement Ceremony, May 21.
Martin received her bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Benedict at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. She holds masters and doctoral degrees from Vanderbilt University, with an emphasis in systematic theology. Martin began her career at Mount Mercy in 1991.

Kathryn Coulter, JD, was granted professor emeritus status at Mount Mercy University's 2017 Commencement Ceremony on May 21 after being a member of the business faculty for 30 years.
Coulter received bachelor’s and juris doctor degrees from the University of Iowa and an MBA from Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. After teaching at University of California, Berkeley; San Francisco State; and Florida International College, she began teaching at Mount Mercy College in 1987.

After 37 years as a member of the psychology faculty at Mount Mercy University, Dr. Ron Feldt was granted professor emeritus status at the 2017 Commencement Ceremony, May 21.
Feldt holds a bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin–Madison, a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, and earned a PhD in psychology from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Before coming to Mount Mercy in 1980, he taught at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh.

Sister Anne Marie Healy, RSM, 72, died on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, after an extended illness. She was an associate professor at Mount Mercy from 1982 to 2004 and a Sister of Mercy for 30 years.
Services will be held at 10:00 AM on Friday, May 12, 2017, at the Sacred Heart Convent Chapel. Burial will be at the Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids. Friends may call from 3:30 PM to 6:30 PM on Thursday, May 11, 2017, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, with a wake service at 6:30 PM.

Mount Mercy University Professor of Biology Neil Bernstein, Ph.D., won the prestigious Distinguished Fellow award from the Iowa Academy of Science. He was honored at the President’s Banquet during the April 21 Iowa Academy of Science Annual Meeting.

Mount Mercy University prides itself on the experiential learning opportunities afforded to its students, both on and off campus. Often, these opportunities come in the form of faculty-led research or projects—culminating in the day-long annual Scholarship Festival.

Mount Mercy University was named one of the best colleges in Iowa by LearnHowToBecome.org. Mount Mercy placed eleventh on the list of all nonprofit 4-year schools in the state, including all three regent universities.

Master of Science in Nursing Program Director Sharon Guthrie was recognized with the distinguished Teresa E. Christy Award from the Iowa Nurses Association on Oct. 14.
Presented to a registered nurse who has demonstrated professional commitment to improving health care, the award also recognizes the recipient’s commitment to the interrelationship of nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research.

If we were to believe the images in some political campaign commercials, Cedar Rapids would have burned to the ground long ago. Hooded figures, murder in their eyes, guns in their hands, “Allah Akbar” on their lips; this is the vision too many have of Islam in America.
All the while, there stands in Cedar Rapids a building that offers a quiet, persistent refutation of that vision. The Mother Mosque symbolizes neighbors, not enemies; a part of the fabric of Cedar Rapids that is enduring, interwoven, and peaceful.